Child Labour And Academic Performance Of Junior Secondary School Students In Okobo Local Government Area
Chapter One
1.1 Introduction
Advance learners dictionary defined a child as a young human being who is not yet an adult. On the other hand child labour is the act of subjecting a child to work that is dangerous for kids and that are hazardous to their physical, mental or emotional health. It is also work that prevent kids from attending school such as unlimited or unrestricted domestic work (international labour organization ILO 2007).
According to Anderson 2006 child labour is engaging under aged children into work. He maintained that child labour was utilized to a large extent through most history, but entered public dispute with the beginning of universal schooling with the changes in working conditions during industrialization.
In Nigeria, the number of children exposed to child labour has increased greatly, especially in the rural areas. This could be traceable to poverty, limited access to free and compulsory education, illiteracy of parents, and adult unemployment. The child labour activities that these children are engaged in are farming, baby sitting, processing of plan fruits, scavenging, head loading and hawking etc. Hawking as one of the child labour activities disturb their acquisition of relevant education.
Hawking according to the oxford advanced learning dictionary, 6th edition means moving to sell things by going from place to place asking to buy them.
How ever, Olarere (2007) identified two main types of hawkers which are: the hawkers that carry their good’s around and side walk hawkers who sit with their wares beside the road.
Hawking is one of the major factors that affect a child academic performance because who shares the school time with street hawking is always late to school and he or she is bound to develop immaturities in school work which many include poor study habits, lack of skills, low self esteem and low performances in class hence resulting in failure or total dropping out of school.
It has been heard of that some parents in towns and cities withdrawn their children from school in order to send hawking so as to make money for the family upkeep. In some cases, some children dropped out from school for a term or even a whole year and when they get back to school (that is if they go back to it they become too big for their cohort and they fall victims of name calling by younger classmates. In some cases children who are already contributing economically to their family income may be less interested in academic achievement, resulting in lack of motivation that affects both their learning and future prospect.
This type of situation could have many negative effects on the children psychologically who became under achiever or might develop school phobia such children at the end of the day fail or drop out.
The search for money to make ends meet in depressed economy is obviously one of the major reasons for parent and guardians sending their children or wards to hawk. Most of the hawkers are either in primary/secondary school for the purpose of hawking and at each day sales the children are weak and tired that they are unable to concentrate, contribute to discussion or study on their own.
Lize Apparently, parents and guardians do not realize this and children do not know that the means by which the mental, moral, social and material inheritance of the society can be passed from generation to generation through formal education.
1.2 Statement Of The Problem
All Junior Secondary School Students are expected to revise their notes, do their homework and rest, after school day activities which all increase their academic performance.
It has been observed that not all junior students revise their notes, do homework and rest after school hours.
The students instead, engage in activities such as hawking, scavenging, head loading, farming and domestic chores. By so doing, the students have their attention divided between academic work household activities and income generating activities.
This ugly trend may contribute to the academic performance of students declining in recent time.
Arising from the above, the question that comes to mind is could this attitude have any effect on the academic performance of junior secondary school students? This motivates the researcher to carry out this study.
1.3 Purpose Of The Study
1) To determine the influence of hawking on the academic performance of junior secondary school students in Okobo Local Government Area.
2) To determine the influence of scavenging on the academic performance of junior secondary students in Okobo Local Government Area.
3) To determine the influence of head loading on the academic performance of junior secondary school students in Okobo Local Government Area.
1.4 Significance Of The Study
The findings would be of significance to children, parents, community, government, ministry of education, educators, and curriculum planners in the following ways:
It would enlighten children on the importance of schools through regular school attendance, which would make them appreciate the value of their academic performance.
It would encourage curriculum planners to introduce appropriate curricula to suit each season of the year.
It would encourage the government to introduce free compulsory education.
It would make educators to appreciate students through award of certificates of regular attendance to students who deserve it.
1.5 Research Questions
1) How does hawking influence the academic performance of junior secondary school students in Okobo Local Government Area?
2) How does scavenging influence the academic performance of junior secondary school students in Okobo Local Government Area?
3) Does head loading affect the academic performance of junior secondary school students in Okobo Local Government Area?
1.6 Research Hypothesis
(1) There is no significance influence of hawking on the academic performance of junior secondary school students in Okobo Local Government Area?
(2) There is no significance influence of scavenging on the academic performance of junior secondary school students in Okobo Local Government Area?
(3) There is no significance influence of head loading on the academic performance of junior secondary school students in Okobo Local Government Area?
1.7 Assumptions Of The Study
In writing this project, the following assumptions were made:-
Students in secondary schools are between the age bracket of (11 and 17) years.
Each student has equal opportunity to excel in his or her academic performance in the absence of child labour activities.
Children with poor family background are more prone to child labour activities.
1.8 DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY
This study was confined to Okobo Local Government. The students in this study area are engaged in child labour activities.
Like housekeeping, farming, harvesting and processing of palm fruits. This activities interfere with their regular school attendance thus creating serious concerns on the educational background.
1.9 Limitations Of The Study
The researcher would have covered all Secondary Schools in the entire Local Government Area, but was constrained by lateness in returning of the questionnaires by the respondents.
1.10 Operational Definition Of Terms
CHILD: This is a human being whether male or female between 9 and 18 years of age, who is in the developmental stage of childhood.
LABOUR: This includes range of activities like domestic work, work in household farms, street hawking, harvesting and processing of palm fruits, and others.
This refers to any work that the child engages in that interferes with his/her health and educational developments.
CHILD LABOUR: The term “child labour” is often defined as work that deprives children of childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development. It refers to work that:-
Is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children and interferes with their schooling by: depriving them of the opportunity to attend school; obliging them to leave school prematurely; or requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work.
Academic Performance: This is the child’s ability to study and remember facts, and being able to communicate knowledge verbally or written down or paper.
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